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OER: About Open Educational Resources (OER)

OER Grants are available for RSC Faculty. Click here for more information.

About OER

Open Education Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials in any medium that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others (e.g., Creative Commons license). These can include textbooks, course readings, syllabi, assignments, games, or other material used for educational purposes.  

Why use OER? 

  • Cost savings: OER are available to students at no cost, enabling students to have equal access course materials. OER initiatives have already saved students more than $1 billion.
  • Pedagogical benefits: Open materials can be customized, giving faculty the freedom to create resources tailored to each course. Read more about Open Pedagogy here.

 

The OER Starter Kit is an open text designed for instructors who are new to OER: Elder, A.K. (2019). The OER Starter Kit. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Digital Press.

OER Treasure Hunt: This worksheet can help guide your search for open resources.